They are well made, rig nicely, (I like to sail them way overpowered with the sail flattened out), and very reasonably priced- especially if you order them in the off season. The smallest I've personally sailed and own is a early 1990's 3.2 surflite which I've sailed in about 40-43 knots (I weigh 200#) and handled the gusty, windy conditions well. The newwer ones are that much better I'm sure. I don't really know of any other sail company that routinely makes sails down to the 2.3 range. They're made in the gorge so thare is plenty of opputunities to sail small sails like this and NW is one of the favorite sails of gorge sailors. check out their web site in the previously mentioned thread.

Thanks Jordan. Yes, Northwave is probably the only brand making a 2.3 sail for adult use. They do make a 2.5 size, as well as Real Wind, another Hood River-based brand.

How do you rig the Surflite ? super flat profile with a loose leech down to the boom's clew or with a moderate loose leech in the top panel and some belly shape around the boom area ?
Some owner have reported a soft feel with the Surflite + NoLimitz mast combo, do you agree or not ? Good or bad with your 200# weight ?

the 3.2 and 3.7 surflites are early 1990's so the new ones probably rig a little different..but I rig the 2 i do have on a 400 mast which is probably stiffer than recommended (i believe the optimal mast is a 370). Anyway i downhaul for normal sailing conditions so the leach is wrinkled down to half way between the 2 and 3rd batton and then outhaul so the 2nd batton from the top is off the mast. I like to sail them over powered thouh so in those conditions I'll down haul till theres a wrinkle all the way down to the 3rd batton from the top and adjust the outhaul accordingly. Because I use a stiiffer /longer mast than optimal (400 is the smallest mast i own) I have to really put more effort into the downhaul than i would w/ a 370 mast. It feels dialed in non the less though. The newwer ones may rig alittle different. Call Chris @ NW.. he's very informative and eager to explain how to rig the sails. Also check out the Simmer Style web site and check out their rigging videos for their diff sails.. watch the ones for all 3 of their wave sails as each one offers different pointers. The NW sails require a little more downhaul in general than the Simmers, but their really are some informative tips on how to fine tune the newwer generation of wave sails which carry over to all sail brands.

As far as a"soft feel", I have never experienced that w/ either the older surflites or the zxl's unless I don't downhaul or out haul them enough/correctly. ie if I rig them in very light wind just to get moving and then get hit with a gust they feel soft and the sail draft feels like its shifting and unstable alittle.. but thats only because the sail is too small for the wind conditions.
Also when fine tuning the new NW's (I have 2007 ZXL's 4.2-->5.7) adjustments in down and outhaul to adjust for litewind to strong wind requires only a 1-->3 cm change in tension depending on the conditions..its really quite remarkable!

check out this pic; this is a zxl of course but I believe the new surflites rig similiarly...its blowing about 33--39 knotts, this sailor weighs about 185# and is on a JP FSW85... so he's sailing overpowered conditions for a 4.2 sail yet is still totally dialed in.. not sure if you can tell but the downhaul has the the leach wrinkled down between the 2&3 batton from the top..

on the other hand, check out this pic with the same conditions as the above pic.. this sailor weighed about 175# was on an old school gorge animal(heavy board) and looks like he was on a 3.2 --maybe 2.8 (???) older vintage surflite...notice how he doesn't really have much downhaul at all yet he was rippin fully powered and appears dialed in as well..